The
first sermon was preached in the county at the North
Loup settlement, May 1872, by Reverend Oscar Babcock.
The
first post office in the county was established
at North Loup, in the fall of 1872, and Oscar Babcock
was
appointed
Postmaster.
The
first marriage took place in April 1873, an was
that of Nels Anderson to Miss Hannah Mortensen.
The ceremony
was
performed by Reverend Oscar Babcock.
The
first birth occurred in the spring of 1873. That
was the child of Warren Collins.
The
first death in the county was that of a young named
Gary, and occurred in the summer of 1873.
The
first schoolhouse was built of logs, in the spring
of 1873, at the North Loup.
The
first school in the county was taught here in the
following summer by Miss Kate Badger, now Mrs. W.
J. Holliday.
The
first store in the county was established at North
Loup in the summer of 1873, by W. J. Holliday.
The
first frame house in the county was built in 1873,
by Orson S. Haskell, 3 miles north of Ord.
The
first law suit was tried in 1873, in the dugout
residence of Peter Mortensen. The case was
for assault and battery
with
the intent to kill. The suit brought by Samuel
Hawthorne against George McKellar. The
case was tried before
Orson
S. Haskell, Justice of the Peace.
The
first newspaper in the county was established at
Calamus, near Fort Hartstuff. By W. H. Mitchell
in the fall of
1875.
It was called the Valley County Herald and
was published there for two years, when he moved
it to Ord.